'Dating Hacks' App Automates Messaging Process

Trending News: The 'Dating Hacks' App Is Dating Made Lazy

Why Is This Important?

Because some people get tongue tied, even via text.

Long Story Short

A new app called Dating Hacks wants to make your online dating experience a little more streamlined. It's loaded with 500+ pre-populated messages covering everything from opening lines to letting her down easy.

Long Story

One criticism of online dating is that it's too easy. That is, you can get along pretty well without putting in much effort. A few swipes here, some charming texts there and you can line up multiple IRL dates without having to put on pants. This doesn't sit well with folks who grew up prior to the online dating revolution, when phone numbers were earned with blood, sweat and copious free drinks. Those people are really going to hate a new app called Dating Hacks,because it takes automation one step further — now, you don't even have to type your own texts anymore.

Dating Hacks

The keyboard, which works with any existing dating or texting application, is remarkable in that it has canned material for some 30 different categories, including Openers, Get Phone Number, Plan Date, After Date, Flirty, Sexting, After Sex, What Are We?, Birthday, Not Interested, Stopped Responding, Questions, Silly, Sports, Emoji Speak, Miss You, Romantic, Good Morning, Goodnight and more. If you're the type of guy who really struggles to talk to women (even via text), you won't be short on options. If you can manage the most basic aspects of friendly conversation, the Dating Hacks app may be enough to get you through the stickier parts.

The content is surprisingly good. Nothing is too Pickup Artist-ish (even the "Negs" section is measured and tame), though a few of the messages I've scrolled through can veer a little to the corny and/or aggressive side. The problem is that while none of the lines are over the top enough to be particularly memorable, they don't seem all that original, either. It's entirely possible that a girl will recognize a line and realize you're using an app, at which point you're sunk. It's like 2006 all over again, when guys would get busted trying to use the same tired material culled from Neil Strauss' The Game.

Of course, there's another possibility. Though the app seems geared more towards men, there's nothing stopping women from paying the $1.99 and downloading it themselves. That means that somewhere, two people are communicating using the app, meaning they're not really talking to one another at all. Before long everything will come full circle, we'll start sending proxies to meet for the first time in person, and the universe will finally collapse on itself.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Is it unethical to rely on an app to send your messages?

Disrupt Your Feed

And I thought I was lazy for just swiping right on every match.

Drop This Fact

One-third of people who have used online dating have never actually gone on a date with someone they met on these sites.